


rice milk

by chimera (emptyheadspace)



Series: the shower serenade [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 4.3k words of bokuto singing disney songs and akaashi being thirsty, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, BokuAka Week 2020, Bokuto is a lovable dork, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Singing, akaashi has the voice of an angel, akaashi is a bitch for skincare, ft. akaashi's obsession with showers and rice milk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25691158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emptyheadspace/pseuds/chimera
Summary: Akaashi’s shower was a safe little sanctuary for him and his thirteen-step skincare routine.Bokuto's shower was his own private stage for a rousing vocal performance of every Disney song in existence.They're neighbors who shower at odd hours of the night.What happens when Akaashi starts to enjoy listening to the neighbor who's always singing in the shower next to his?
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: the shower serenade [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863985
Comments: 20
Kudos: 186
Collections: Bokuaka Week 2020





	rice milk

**Author's Note:**

> I really like the idea of Akaashi being super passionate about skincare, and secretly possessing the swearing vocabulary of a sailor. This fic was totally inspired by my own time in the shower and the rice milk shower gel I have grown to like.

Akaashi loved showers.

It was quite the established fact that Akaashi enjoyed his alone time, and what better way to get alone time than to take hour-long hot showers and steam his whole apartment up?

Now, Akaashi’s shower was a safe little sanctuary for him and his thirteen-step skincare routine.

When he first moved into this apartment, he chose it solely to stay true to his glorious vision of what his bathroom could be like. The moment he stepped foot into the house, he was already visualizing the polished wooden panelling and the mirrors that would wrap half the walls, accentuated by a beautiful under-ledge warm lighting. He had made sure to install a dual showerhead: one a rain shower and the other a handheld one. Even the tiles on the wall were made to remind the user of dark stone. 

The moment his shower vision had come to life, he set to work filling the medicine cabinet with all his products (in rainbow order, of course), and stocking the shower racks with all his favorite scents and shampoos and body gels and scrubs. It was a lot of money, but he didn’t mind it one bit at all. Anything to make his shower experience all the more enjoyable.

Every morning when he slid out of bed, he would step in the shower and feel instantly refreshed. There was simply nothing like the feeling of cold water rushing onto your face and cascading down your shoulders. He always rose earlier than the sun just so he could spend longer in the shower.

Every night when he came home from work, it was shower time again. He would step under his rain shower and let the warm water wash away the woes of the day, wash away the weight of the world on his shoulders. It was quiet and slow and relaxing. 

The shower had become his own little world, a safe haven where he could be surrounded by familiar smells and familiar sensations. He always left his devices outside, making it a point to cut off connections to the outside world. There was no point texting or checking social media or answering work emails when one was supposed to be unwinding. The shower was the perfect place for that, undisturbed and shrouded in privacy — far away from annoying coworkers and prying friends. 

Man, did Akaashi love showers.

༻✧༺

Akaashi pressed a few pumps of rice milk cleanser onto his palm.

He had been running around town like a maniac just to get a new bottle of the damn cleanser. As pricey as it was, he had to admit that it has been doing wonders for his complexion. It was the perfect cleanser for both his night and morning skincare regimens; it was brightening and refreshing in the mornings, and soothing and moisturizing in the nights. This particular brand was an organic one, free of preservatives and any nasty chemicals — Akaashi was very particular about what he put on his skin.

Just as he was lifting his hands to his face, ready for the rice milk to cleanse the fuck out of his face, he was startled by a _very_ loud noise.

The bottle clattered to the wet floor, slipping and sliding on the tiles as Akaashi dove to save it.

Needless to say, he wasn’t very successful, and ended up butt-first on the shower floor. 

Cursing the heavens, he got back to his feet, restoring the cleanser to its proper place on the shelf. Thankfully, he had managed to hold on to the cleanser he had in his palm, and he slapped it on his face a little harder than usual, trying to wash away the heart attack he nearly just had.

There it was again.

That strangely loud noise.

Akaashi strained his ears, wondering what on earth that could be at this hour of the night.

It took him a moment to realize that it was a _voice_ . Not only was it a voice, no, it was a very loud and enthusiastic voice, shooting its way through the high notes of a very familiar Disney song. _I See The Light_ , Akaashi believed it was called. He wasn’t the most ardent Disney fan, but he had to admit that he knew most of their songs, and might even sing along to the movies if he was really feeling it.

Whoever was singing it wasn’t terrible, but they could definitely strive for more vocal control in the higher reaches of their range. But he supposed it wasn’t that bad for someone who was singing so passionately in the shower. He could hear the rush of the shower coming from next door as the man (man?) belted his heart out. The man’s voice was loud and lively and full of energy, _too much_ energy in fact, for someone who was showering in the middle of the night. 

Akaashi didn’t know how to feel about this. On one hand, at least he wasn’t the only weirdo taking showers this late into the night. On the other hand, if he was going to have to put up with this needless singing while he was in the shower, he was going to be extremely frustrated. Was it only going to get worse?

The man must be his new neighbor, he supposed. He had moved in about a week ago, and Akaashi had yet to encounter any _shower misadventures_ until now. 

He wondered if his new neighbor was aware that he was in the shower too. Probably not. Who else took showers at this unearthly hour? Now he just felt a little strange listening in to this man trying to be Rapunzel on a boat, singing his lungs out to the imaginary lanterns in the sky. His neighbor was probably naked, and wet, like how all people were in the shower. 

Yet he couldn’t help but feel ever so slightly amused. His neighbor sang like there was no tomorrow, like he was trying to be the contestant on a reality singing show, but Akaashi doubted he would make it into the qualifiers, much less the finals. A hard truth, but not everyone was good at singing.

Sighing, he continued onto his toner. It was a hibiscus and tea tree mix, a very soothing but potent scent that filled up his shower the moment he squeezed a fair amount out onto the cotton pad. He dabbed it onto his face, wondering how long his neighbor was going to continue this shower karaoke session. The smell soothed his nerves instantly as he tried to block out the sound.

He couldn’t be singing all night, right?

༻✧༺

Akaashi couldn’t have been more wrong.

His neighbor was hellbent on demonstrating his love for Disney songs to the entire neighborhood, it seems. He briefly wondered how nobody had reported this man for noise pollution yet. Surely someone else was hearing this, right? Akaashi couldn’t be the only one with the misfortune of having a shower situated right next to the offending party’s own.

He had a powerful set of lungs, Akaashi would give him that. He didn’t seem to tire out, or even waver even as his shower kept running. He was always enthusiastic, and unnecessarily joyful about disrupting everyone else’s sleep with his own rendition of the most famous Disney songs. Even worse was the fact that both his neighbor’s and his own showers shared one thing in common: powerful acoustics and an enclosed space. Every single note and word ricocheted in through the window, bouncing off the walls and plaguing his earthly days. 

It started out as a nightly thing, the singing confined to the ungodly hours of the after-midnight realm, and Akaashi thought he could dodge it if he simply shifted his shower schedule forward by an hour. Then, the singing started haunting him even in the early mornings. The moment he stepped into the shower, it was always there. His neighbor was always singing. 

On this particular night, Akaashi was feeling more tired than usual. He didn’t know if it was because of the report he had stayed behind to finish drafting, or the fact that his sleep had been wrecked by the wildest dream about princesses in towers and fish under the sea last night. Needless to say, it wasn’t as peaceful a sleep as he had wanted it to be, and he didn’t know if he should blame it on his neighbor’s singing. Hopefully, his skincare routine would magically remove the under-eye circles he could have sworn developed overnight. That was a job for the rice milk, to brighten and reduce darker spots. 

As he prepared the rice milk cleanser this morning, the singing drifted in through the little window above him as if on cue. 

His neighbor was singing _You’re Welcome_ this time, and Akaashi could even imagine him miming all the actions to the song and adding every little intonation, mimicking a certain dancing demigod. At least he was staying true to the mood of the original song, Akaashi thought grimly, trying to comfort himself.

As he rubbed gentle circles into his skin, willing it to absorb the goodness of the rice milk, he found himself swaying along to the song. It was absolutely ridiculous, the amount of dedication his neighbor had put into trying to replicate the playful and bouncy tune, even going so far as to deepen his voice and dancing all around. Akaashi could hear the crash, his neighbor having presumably knocked over a whole row of shampoo bottles. 

Was he holding a shampoo bottle as a makeshift microphone? Akaashi could totally see that happening.

As he moved onto massaging a citrus essence into his skin, he could feel his shoulders unwinding themselves as he started to move along faster to the rhythm. His neighbor was knocking random products together and onto the walls, creating what could only be called _improvised percussion_. He admitted that it was strangely on beat to the song, and found himself bopping his head to the beat. 

His neighbor’s voice was beginning to sound strangely charming in a goofy sort of way. It was almost endearing how keen he sounded singing in the shower, his voice really drawing out the notes and running deep. Akaashi could feel how much power he was putting into his voice all the way from here, and he briefly thought that if he spent a little more time sharpening up his pitch control he could actually sound _good_.

What kind of strange situation did he find himself in?

Akaashi was bopping along to a Disney song in the shower sung by his neighbor (also in the shower) who was banging on the walls and singing his lungs dry. It should’ve been the most ridiculous situation he had ever encountered, but he was feeling strangely okay with it.

Combined with the steam and the heady smell of a blend of aromatic oils and rice milk, Akaashi could feel the knots in his back easing. The water felt much calmer now, a rush of warmth that enveloped his entire being and rubbed the stress out of his head. There was just something about throwing his head and arms about with wild abandon in the shower to a good song that did wonders for his body. 

He didn’t want to admit it, but he was feeling more relaxed than before.

Was his neighbor’s singing growing on him?

༻✧༺

It wasn’t until a whole week later that Akaashi finally met his neighbor.

He didn’t really have an image of how the man looked like in his head when he was trying to imagine him in the shower singing Disney songs, but somehow he fit that vision perfectly. The man had the most ridiculous hairdo that Akaashi had ever seen on a human being (he had seen it on an owl once, but that could hardly count), his grey and black streaks gelled up into two tufts on his head. He was tall, taller than Akaashi even, and wore a simple grey shirt pulled taut over his broad shoulders and chest. 

Akaashi knew he was staring, and he shouldn’t be, but he was anyway. 

“Hey! I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” his neighbor exclaimed. _Ah, this must be the shower singing neighbor_. His voice was equally loud and excited even when he wasn’t singing, rising up into an excited greeting as he turned around. It was a miracle Akaashi had yet to run into this neighbor of his, but he supposed he hadn’t really wanted that to happen.

“Me neither,” Akaashi said. 

“I’m Bokuto, Bokuto Koutarou. I just moved in last last week,” Bokuto (apparently) chirped, extending a hand and staring at Akaashi expectantly with two very big golden eyes. “We’re neighbors, right?”

“Yes, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said, opting for the polite route and shaking his hand. So this was the face behind many of the shower Disney medleys he had heard. “I’m Akaashi.”

 _A firm handshake_ , he noted. His eyes were trailing up his neighbor’s forearms all the way up to his well-built biceps, the muscles rippling simply from a handshake. 

Akaashi gulped silently. 

“What do you do?” Bokuto asked. 

“For work?” Akaashi was not used to this level of eagerness from his neighbors. “I’m a manga artist.”

“That’s so cool, Akaashi!” Bokuto said, dropping the honorifics already. Had they really just met? “I’m a volleyball player.”

“Ah,” Akaashi said. That would explain Bokuto’s physique — the curve of his back and those big arms that he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of. Was every volleyball player supposed to be this ripped? At least Bokuto didn’t seem to mind his staring, or maybe he was too excited making small talk to even notice Akaashi’s eyes eating him up. It would also explain the irregular hours that Bokuto showers at, not that he was any better. 

“My team’s making it to nationals,” he announced proudly. “I’m playing a game this week, you should come and watch!”

Akaashi let out an amused snort to himself. A star volleyball player singing Disney songs in the shower? That was new. This man was every bit as enthusiastic as he had imagined, albeit with _way_ more muscle definition than he had initially anticipated. He was already inviting Akaashi to watch one of his games based on the sheer fact that they were neighbors. It was hard to believe they had just met given how comfortable Bokuto seemed talking to him.

“Sure, Bokuto-san.”

“Great!” Bokuto called out, locking the door behind him. “I need to be at training soon, have a nice day Akaashi! It was nice talking to you.”

“You too, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said, even though he hadn’t done much talking. Bokuto had been the one carrying their conversation. He had been too busy ogling the volleyball player’s muscles to even get too many words out his mouth, skimming by on bare responses. 

He watched as the hulking block of muscle (that also happened to be his singing neighbor) wandered purposefully off down the corridor. 

Things were about to get very interesting.

༻✧༺

Bokuto certainly knew his Disney songs.

Akaashi had been listening out for the familiar loud voice in the shower. 

He had been excited for his showers but for a vastly different reason this time.

The song of the day was _I’ll Make a Man out of You_ on Monday, a fast-paced and rousing song that shook the very walls of Akaashi’s shower when Bokuto really got into it. He had found himself thumping his foot along to Bokuto’s singing, rising and falling with the speed of the beat. Akaashi wondered what Bokuto was using the create that echoing drumming sound, and while one may not call Bokuto particularly skilled vocally, one could not deny how good he was at replicating the beat of a song with shower essentials.

On Tuesday came the familiar song _Kiss the Girl_ , one that Akaashi knew well. He owned the DVD of the movie somewhere. If it was possible, Bokuto sang with twice as much vigor as before, stretching his lungs out and crooning his way through the high notes. _He must be particularly happy today_ , Akaashi mused. Did training go well? Probably. 

Wednesday brought the jolly tidings of _You’ve Got a Friend in Me_ , a familiar classic that Akaashi couldn’t help but hum along to. It was weird to imagine Bokuto naked and dancing around in the shower, but his mind had extended past that point a long time ago. All he could think of was how catchy Bokuto’s voice made the song sound. He should really catch up on his Disney movies.

It was on Thursday that Bokuto finally got around to _Let It Go_. Akaashi had to commend his neighbor for trying for range, his voice rising into a squeaky tone as he tried to nail all the high notes. He had to suppress a slight laugh when Bokuto let out a squeal. For a moment, he imagined his hot neighbor standing in a flowy ice blue dress, and he immediately turned the water all the way to cold. He would not do that to himself today.

Friday was the day Bokuto decided to take on a villain’s song: _Be Prepared_. Akaashi wasn’t that familiar with The Lion King, but after hearing Bokuto have so much fun with masquerading as a villain, he mentally decided to check out the movie later on. Hearing Bokuto rasp out the song at a lower pitch than the usual ballads he attempted was doing things to Akaashi that he tried to snuff out with the rush of the water. It wasn’t working at all.

Bokuto went for a very animated take on _Be Our Guest_ on Saturday. Akaashi had always loved that movie, and for a moment he wondered if he would ever find such a fairytale love story in his life. It was a far reach, but he let himself hope as he leaned against the wall of the shower as he listened to the cheerful and jaunty tone in Bokuto’s voice.

So maybe Akaashi had a problem.

Akaashi stepped into the shower on Sunday night, armed with a fluffy pink towel, his best bathrobe, and a fresh new bottle of rice milk shower gel. He had finally given in to his ardent love of rice milk, having stopped by the health and beauty store to pick up the shower gel on his way home from work. He couldn’t wait to try it out.

But that wasn’t the only thing he couldn’t wait for.

As he lathered the foamy gel up his limbs, he turned the water to a comfortably warm temperature, letting the steam fog up the glass walls. The steam and the smell of rice milk fogged the worries right out his head, mild and slightly sweet and so very soothing. This was a good decision already. He could feel his shoulders sinking into pure relaxation, the water nice and hot on his skin. Now all he was missing was one very familiar voice and the Disney song of the day. 

But the voice never came.

Akaashi waited and waited, and the water ran and ran, but there was no singing.

He listened for the sound of running water from the shower next door, and it was there. The steady stream of water rushing out of the showerhead, and the sounds of someone shifting around quietly, but no singing. 

Why was there no singing?

Akaashi slowed down his motions, settling for slowly spreading the green tea and black sugar scrub over his face as he listened out for something, anything. There was an uneasy silence that hung between his shower and Bokuto’s shower, like the air was thrumming with the absence of something so familiar and comfortable. Like something was missing, and without it he could no longer shower in peace.

A strange noise came through the window.

Akaashi stilled. 

It had sounded like a _choked sob_.

He turned off the water, trying to listen out for more, and there was no mistaking what was happening.

Bokuto was crying in his shower.

It was a very, very unusual sound, and Akaashi found himself shivering in the bare air of the shower. Bokuto was crying, and here he was just standing there listening like a weirdo. His neighbor, the star volleyball player who sings Disney songs when he showers, was _crying_.

Akaashi felt a shot of panic through his heart.

He wasn’t expecting this.

There was an ugly sniffling, and then a hoarse sound that he could only assume was Bokuto blowing his nose over the sound of the running water.

Akaashi didn’t like the idea of Bokuto crying. Hell, he barely even knew the man but it was so uncharacteristic to hear someone so happy and bright become so down. He couldn’t imagine the sunshine smile on his neighbor’s face being replaced by tears or a dejected expression, and maybe he wasn’t even exaggerating when he said it _broke his heart_.

 _What do I do_? Akaashi mulled, trying to salvage the situation and what was left of his face scrub.

Another sniffle.

 _Fuck it_ , he thought.

Now, Akaashi wouldn’t call himself a fantastic singer, but anyone else who was watching on would say otherwise. Once he got a job, he had started to sing less and less, the days of using his voice diminishing every year as he sunk deeper into his adult life. He used to think of singing as a sort of reprieve, a home to come back to, something that was simple and pure and comfortable. 

“ **_All those days watching from the windows~_ **”

The sound of rushing water in Bokuto’s shower stopped.

“ **_All those years outside looking in~_ **”

Akaashi could’ve sworn he heard something drop.

It was easy slipping into the song once he really tried. He had chosen _I See The Light_ , a little dedication to the first song he had ever heard Bokuto sing in the shower that one day. He knew the lyrics to the song, and it was charged with an emotion that Akaashi hadn’t known in a long time until he had heard that stupid voice coming in from the other shower.

“ **_All that time never even knowing, just how blind I’ve been~_ **”

A softer sniffle that was cut off at the end, as if someone had rubbed their nose and tried to stop.

Akaashi powered through to the end of the verse, trying to inject emotion into his every word. Maybe if Bokuto was listening, he would at least feel uplifted by the song. He could do this much for his shower neighbor at least. 

“ **_Standing here it’s all so clear, where I’m meant to be~_ **”

He wasn’t exactly sure what he had been hoping would happen, but when he heard that familiar voice singing back, he knew this was exactly what he had needed. 

Bokuto’s voice was still raw from his crying, but it was the most beautiful thing Akaashi had ever heard.

Together, their voices melded into one crescendo as they reached the most beautiful part of the song. Two voices joined together as one. Two neighbors singing together in a shower. It should’ve been ridiculous but in the moment it was one of the best experiences in the history of Akaashi’s showers like, _ever_.

“ **_And at last I see the light, it’s like the fog has lifted~!_ **”

Akaashi was soaring now. He was soaring, his voice was soaring, and he was pretty sure he had just hit the clouds and went beyond the skies. He had always been aware of his ability to pitch his notes perfectly, but he was still rusty when it came to matters of the voice.

It didn’t seem to matter in this case however, as Bokuto was slowly being restored to his former shower-singing glory. Slowly but surely, the sadness in his voice was starting to drain away, like the rice milk soap suds swirling down Akaashi’s shower drain. He was getting louder and brighter, like a supernova exploding in the night sky, his voice swelling and rising and climbing through Akaashi’s window. 

They were really getting into the duet, and it went on and on through the night until they reached the inevitable end of the song. 

When the last note faded out, everything was silent for a while.

“Akaashi?” Bokuto’s voice carried over.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi had to reply.

“Now I’m just embarrassed,” Bokuto said slowly as he realized that Akaashi had been listening in on his Disney shower karaoke sessions this whole time. His face was heating up and it was not from the shower. “Your voice is really, really good!”

“You’re not too bad yourself,” Akaashi chuckled.

“This is really weird,” Bokuto admitted, noting the fact that they were making conversation through a very thin wall that separated their showers. “But that was really cool.”

“Mmhm,” Akaashi murmured, trying to put on a clay mask. “Why were you sad?”

“Me? Sad?” Bokuto had the nerve to sound surprised, as if he couldn’t fathom why Akaashi would be concerned. As if he hadn’t just cried in the shower. 

Akaashi raised an eyebrow, almost forgetting that Bokuto couldn’t see it.

“Okay, okay, I totally bombed everything at practice today,” Bokuto said softly, so softly that it tugged at Akaashi’s heartstrings. “I let my teammates down and now I don’t know if they’ll talk to me.”

“Maybe you should be kinder to yourself, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi reassured. “I’m sure your teammates will understand if you’re having a bad day, but tomorrow is a new day.”

He pumped more rice milk bath onto his hands. 

“Besides, if you feel sad we can always sing another song.”

Bokuto brightened up at that.

“Thanks Akaashi,” he spoke up. “Thank you for singing with me.”

Akaashi was quiet for a while, and for a moment Bokuto wondered if he had said something wrong, but then Akaashi spoke again.

“Bokuto-san, would you like to come over and watch a Disney movie sometime?”

It was Bokuto’s turn to fall silent, his breath catching in his throat.

“Gods, yes.” His grin was eminent through his voice. 

Akaashi smiled to himself.

He did love showers after all.

**Author's Note:**

> gonna make this a series after bokuaka week to satiate akaashi's thirst (and the next part will be steamy both literally and figuratively)
> 
> check out my other bokuaka week works [here](https://emptyheadspace.tumblr.com/post/625261318908346368/bokuaka-week-works)
> 
> here's my [socials](https://thegildedraven.carrd.co) and my other [works](https://emptyheadspace.tumblr.com/completedworks)


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